Claire Naughton and
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9 Captivating Spanish Poems to Make You Fall in Love with Spanish
In “The Notebook,” Noah’s dad encourages him to practice reading poetry to help him overcome the stutter he had as a child.
Why on earth is this relevant to Spanish?
A stutter is oftentimes rooted in uncertainty or lack of confidence in speaking—something every Spanish learner can identify with.
The good news is, all of these feelings can be channeled into a productive outlet, like reading poetry and learning more Spanish.
Contents
- Beginners: Children’s Poems
- Intermediate: Easy Poems for Adults
- Advanced: Complex Poems for Adults
- Why Read Spanish Poetry?
- Tips for Reading Poems in Spanish
- And One More Thing…
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
Beginners: Children’s Poems
Douglas Wright is a famous writer of children’s poetry from Argentina. His simple language and construction of imagery as perceived by a child makes it a good starting point for Spanish learners to get their feet wet.
Learning a language after our first puts us back onto the same square as children, seeing the world with new and appreciative eyes, with a lot of questions to boot.
Below are three poems by Wright that offer a great mix of imagery, vocabulary and brevity for the Spanish learner endeavoring to memorize poetry.
1. “Bien tomados de la mano” (Holding Hands Firmly) by Douglas Wright
Qué lindo que es caminar,
bien tomados de la mano,
por el barrio, por la plaza,
¿qué sé yo?, por todos lados.
Qué lindo es mirar los árboles,
bien tomados de la mano,
desde el banco de la plaza,
en el que estamos sentados.
Qué lindo es mirar el cielo
bien tomados de la mano;
en nuestros ojos, volando,
dos pájaros reflejados.
Qué lindo que es caminar
bien tomados de la mano;
¡qué lindo, andar por la vida
de la mano bien tomados!
How nice it is to walk,
holding hands firmly,
through the neighborhood, through the plaza,
What do I know?, everywhere.
How nice it is to look at the trees,
holding hands firmly,
from the bench in the plaza,
in which we are sitting.
How nice it is to look at the sky
holding hands firmly;
in our eyes, flying,
two reflected birds.
How nice it is to walk
holding hands firmly;
how nice, to walk through life
with hands held firmly!
This sweet poem about walking hand in hand with someone helps you learn a lot of useful day to day vocabulary.
Plus, the repetition along with fun, childish imagery, like looking at trees, looking at the sky and looking at reflections, makes it very easy to memorize. If you do like to memorize poems though, make sure you break it up into four different sections to make it easier.
2. “Bajo la luna” (Under the Moon) by Douglas Wright
Todos callados,
bajo la luna;
el bosque, el lago,
el cerro, el monte,
bajo la luna,
todos callados.
Everyone is quiet,
under the moon;
the forest, the lake,
the hill, the mountain,
under the moon,
everyone is quiet.
This quick, pretty poem is entirely about appreciating the silence. It begins and opens with the same phrase, meaning “everyone is quiet” and then lists everything that’s quiet on this night. A fun and short one to have stuck in your head all day (or week).
3. “El brillo de las estrellas” (The Shine of the Stars) by Douglas Wright
Mejor que todos los fuegos
que llaman artificiales,
el brillo de las estrellas,
esos fuegos naturales.
Better than all fires
they call artificial,
the shine of the stars,
those natural fires.
This sweet poem about the brilliance of the stars also brings up a couple of words most Spanish beginners probably won’t know, but these will definitely come in handy around the fourth of July. Can you figure out how to say “fireworks” from context clues? (Answer: fuegos artificiales.)
Intermediate: Easy Poems for Adults
Once you have some children’s poetry under your belt, you can move on to some simple adult poetry. Don’t feel put off by classic Spanish poetry—much of it is actually very accessible, even when it’s on the longer side! Check out our picks below.
4. “Cancioncilla sevillana” (Seville Song) by Federico García Lorca
Amanecía
en el naranjel.
Abejitas de oro
buscaban la miel.
¿Dónde estará
la miel?
Está en la flor azul,
Isabel.
En la flor,
del romero aquel.
(Sillita de oro
para el moro.
Silla de oropel
para su mujer.)
Amanecía
en el naranjel.
Dawn
in the orange grove.
Golden bees
were looking for honey.
Where could it be,
the honey?
It’s in the blue flower,
Isabel.
In the flower,
of that rosemary.
(Gold chair
for the Moor.
Tinsel chair
for his wife.)
Dawn
in the orange grove.
Playwright and poet Federico García Lorca was born in the Andalusia region of Spain. He was the son of a wealthy landowner and grew up surrounded by the beauty of the land he loved.
The countryside influenced his poetry. “Cancioncilla Sevillana” draws from nature, with his mention of orange trees, bees and honey. But the poet also names a woman, leaving the reader to wonder just exactly what the author had in mind.
This poem is short and sweet, which makes it ideal for Spanish language learners as it’s not overwhelming!
5. “Viento, agua, piedra” (Wind, Water, Stone) by Octavio Paz
A Roger Caillois
El agua horada la piedra,
el viento dispersa el agua,
la piedra detiene al viento.
Agua, viento, piedra.
El viento esculpe la piedra,
la piedra es copa del agua,
el agua escapa y es viento.
Piedra, viento, agua.
El viento en sus giros canta,
el agua al andar murmura,
la piedra inmóvil se calla.
Viento, agua, piedra.
Uno es otro y es ninguno:
entre sus nombres vacíos
pasan y se desvanecen
agua, piedra, viento.
For Roger Caillois
The water has hollowed the stone,
the wind dispersed the water,
the stone stopped the wind.
Water, wind, stone.
The wind sculpts the stone,
the stone is a cup of water,
the water runs off and is wind.
Stone, wind, water.
The wind sings in its turnings,
the water murmurs as it goes,
the immovable stone is quiet.
Wind, water, stone.
One is the other and is neither:
Among their empty names
they pass and disappear
water, stone, wind.
Octavio Paz was a Mexican poet and essayist who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1990.
“Viento, agua, piedra” (“Wind, water, stone”) speaks to the way that all is connected. Humans, nature and situations all impact each other and he shows that by painting a mind picture of wind sculpting stone, water running off and so on.
This poem benefits Spanish language learners by providing reading practice material that can be taken both at face value or as something deeper.
6. “Oda a los calcetines” (Ode to My Socks) by Pablo Neruda
Me trajo Maru Mori
un par de calcetines
que tejió con sus manos de pastora,
dos calcetines suaves como liebres.
En ellos metí los pies
como en dos estuches
tejidos con hebras del
crepúsculo y pellejo de ovejas.
Violentos calcetines,
mis pies fueron dos pescados de lana,
de azul ultramarino
atravesados por una trenza de oro,
dos gigantescos mirlos,
dos cañones;
mis pies fueron honrados de este modo
por estos celestiales calcetines.
Eran tan hermosos que por primera vez
mis pies me parecieron inaceptables
como dos decrépitos bomberos,
bomberos indignos de aquel fuego bordado,
de aquellos luminosos calcetines.
Sin embargo resistí la tentación
aguda de guardarlos como los colegiales
preservan las luciérnagas,
como los eruditos coleccionan
documentos sagrados,
resistí el impulso furioso de ponerlos
en una jaula de oro y darles cada
día alpiste y pulpa de melón rosado.
Como descubridores que en la selva
entregan el rarísimo venado verde
al asador y se lo comen con remordimiento,
estiré los pies y me enfundé
los bellos calcetines y luego los zapatos.
Y es ésta la moral de mi Oda:
dos veces es belleza la belleza,
y lo que es bueno es doblemente bueno,
cuando se trata de dos calcetines
de lana en el invierno.
Maru Mori brought me
a pair of socks
that she knitted herself with her sheepherder’s hands,
two socks as soft as rabbit fur.
Into them I slipped my feet
as though into two cases
knit with thread of
twilight and sheepskin.
Violent socks,
my feet were two fish made of wool,
two large sharks
of sea-blue
crossed by one golden thread,
two immense blackbirds,
two cannons;
my feet were honored in this way
by these heavenly socks.
They were so beautiful that for the first time
my feet seemed to me unacceptable
like two decrepit firemen,
firemen unworthy of that woven fire,
of those glowing socks.
Nevertheless I resisted the sharp temptation
to save them somewhere as schoolboys
keep fireflies,
as learned men collect
sacred texts,
I resisted the mad impulse to put them
into a golden cage and give them every
day birdseed and pink melon flesh.
Like explorers in the jungle
who hand over the very rare green deer
to the spit and eat it with remorse,
I stretched out my feet and pulled on
the magnificent socks and then my shoes.
And this is the moral of my Ode:
beauty is twice beauty,
and what is good is doubly good,
when it is a matter of two socks
made of wool in winter.
Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature.
In “Oda a los calcetines”(“Ode to My Socks”), he talks about how wonderful the pair of socks he has been gifted is. He compares them to many things but in the end he puts them on—and tells us they are most wonderful when used as intended.
You might feel intimidated by the length, but the story-telling nature makes it easy to follow. It is one of my favorite poems—and one of the first I learned to recite!
Advanced: Complex Poems for Adults
7. “Cultivo una rosa blanca” (I Cultivate a White Rose) by José Martí
Cultivo una rosa blanca
en junio como enero
para el amigo sincero
que me da su mano franca.
Y para el cruel que me arranca
el corazón con que vivo,
cardo ni ortiga cultivo;
cultivo la rosa blanca.
I cultivate a white rose
in June and January
for the true friend
who gives me his sincere hand.
And for the cruel one who rips out
the heart with which I live,
I don’t cultivate the thistle or the nettle;
I cultivate the white rose.
This poem by Cuban poet José Martí has a repetitive element as well, but there’s a lot to dig into—why a rose, why those months, why the word cultivate? Deceptively complex but still short and easy to memorize, this is a good poem to get you deeper into the language.
Cuba has long been rife with churning political waters, and this author’s politician/writer combination will appeal to history buffs. As a writer, Martí is heralded as one of the fore-founders of Modernist literature in Latin America.
8. “Desde mi pequeña vida” (From My Small Life) by Margarita Carrera
Desde mi pequeña vida
te canto
hermano
y lloro tu sangre
por las calles derramada
y lloro tu cuerpo
y tu andar perdido.
Ahora estoy aquí
de nuevo contigo
hermano.
Tu sangre
es mi sangre
y tu grito se queda
en mis pupilas
en mi cantar mutilado.
From my small life
I sing to you
brother
and I cry your blood
shed in the streets
and I cry your body
and your lost walk.
Now I am here
again with you
brother.
Your blood
is my blood
and your scream stays
in my pupils
in my mutilated singing.
The Spanish word desde means “from,” which sets the stage for a powerful poem about a woman reflecting on the injustice that many people were suffering in Guatemala during the Civil War. She talks about those who died defending an ideal, in contrast to her small, insignificant life where she feels like she can’t make much of a difference.
Margarita Carrera was born in the late 1920s, and her writing has tons of historical relevance as she was the first woman to graduate from the San Carlos of Guatemala University.
9. “Walking around” by Pablo Neruda
Sucede que me canso de ser hombre.
Sucede que entro en las sastrerías y en los cines
marchito, impenetrable, como un cisne de fieltro
navegando en un agua de origen y ceniza.
El olor de las peluquerías me hace llorar a gritos.
Sólo quiero un descanso de piedras o de lana,
sólo quiero no ver establecimientos ni jardines,
ni mercaderías, ni anteojos, ni ascensores.
Sucede que me canso de mis pies y mis uñas
y mi pelo y mi sombra.
Sucede que me canso de ser hombre.
It so happens I am sick of being a man.
And it happens that I walk into tailor shops and movie-houses
dried up, waterproof, like a swan made of felt
steering my way in a water of wombs and ashes.The smell of barbershops makes me break into hoarse sobs.
The only thing I want is to lie still like stones or wool,
the only thing I want is to see no more stores, no gardens,
no more goods, no spectacles, no elevators.It so happens that I am sick of my feet and my nails
and my hair and my shadow.
It so happens I am sick of being a man.
“Walking Around” is a more advanced poem by Pablo Neruda that talks about a man who seems to be going around normally about his everyday life. Deep down, though, he’s feeling intense anger and despair about what it’s like to be human in modern times.
Even at the start, you get a powerful image right away: “a swan made of felt,” that’s cheap, dried up and artificial instead of being majestic and graceful. Maybe next time you feel worn out or not quite like yourself you can simply say, “Soy un cisne de fieltro.”
These are only the first three stanzas of the poem—since it’s pretty long we haven’t included the whole thing, but you can read it here.
Why Read Spanish Poetry?
Spanish poetry offers a plethora of ways to promote language learning:
- You’ll shake up your study routine. Sometimes the most traditional ways of learning can start to weary even the most dedicated student of the language, so it’s great to get off the beaten path!
- It’ll expand your vocabulary and grammar. Poetry explores language of varying complexity that you wouldn’t always hear in everyday life, and it plays with words and grammar in unique ways.
- You’ll understand Spanish-speaking culture better. By reading poems by authors of various nationalities, you’ll grow to appreciate nuances of language and culture. For example, reading a poem by a Mexican poet may be quite different to a poem written by a Chilean poet.
- Literary themes in the Latin American community are very interesting. As in many languages, poetry in Spanish can explore otherwise controversial and transgressive themes, which are intriguing to read.
Tips for Reading Poems in Spanish
Start small
Beginning with children’s poetry primes you for the different tenses and structures of poems in Spanish. Much like in English, children’s poems in Spanish utilize simple repetition and literal imagery, meaning that children’s poetry is a good vocabulary builder.
Starting with children’s poems can, in effect, be used as a strong stepping-stone to reading and understanding more complex poetry in Spanish.
Read aloud
Reading aloud will help with your general speaking ability, because speaking Spanish is really the only way to get better at, well, speaking Spanish. As speaking is often the element language learners struggle with the most, you’ll be ahead of the game if you take a deep breath and practice out loud.
Put the poem where you’ll see it
Out of sight, out of mind, as the saying goes. What’s the point of working to pronounce a poem if you’re just going to forget what you’ve read? By printing out little copies of each poem and sticking them in places you’ll be sure to see them (think: mirrors, doors, refrigerators), both the poem and the Spanish will stay in your mind for the long term.
Write it out from memory
Once you’re familiar with the poem, take a pad of paper and try to write out the poem from memory. You’ll be surprised by how much you do or don’t remember without the prompt in front of you, and it can be a good gauge to see if you’ve really learned what the words mean as well. Maybe you forget a word part-way through but fill in the correct one based on the rhyme or theme of the poem.
Have some tools on hand to help you
There are plenty of places to find learning tools online. To start with, it’s handy to keep translation apps or dictionaries on hand, such as the RAE Dictionary or SpanishDict.
For a more diverse resource, there’s FluentU, which lets you see Spanish words in context through Spanish videos.
FluentU takes authentic videos—like music videos, movie trailers, news and inspiring talks—and turns them into personalized language learning lessons.
You can try FluentU for free for 2 weeks. Check out the website or download the iOS app or Android app.
Check out some of our recommendations for flashcard apps as well, or do some exploration of the app stores on your own.
Finding beauty in the words is easy…
…but you need to really commit if you want to understand it! Using children’s poetry to bridge the gap between beginning Spanish and intermediate Spanish is a brilliant way to start.
More complex poetry is also a great way to advance your interest in different areas of Latin American culture. Many poems in Spanish denote the author’s preoccupations with events or themes in their home country.
Have fun browsing for words that strike a chord with you, and remember that all difficult things become easier with practice.
The key is keeping the practice fresh and fun!
Download: This blog post is available as a convenient and portable PDF that you can take anywhere. Click here to get a copy. (Download)
And One More Thing…
If you've made it this far that means you probably enjoy learning Spanish with engaging material and will then love FluentU.
Other sites use scripted content. FluentU uses a natural approach that helps you ease into the Spanish language and culture over time. You’ll learn Spanish as it’s actually spoken by real people.
FluentU has a wide variety of videos, as you can see here:
FluentU brings native videos within reach with interactive transcripts. You can tap on any word to look it up instantly. Every definition has examples that have been written to help you understand how the word is used. If you see an interesting word you don’t know, you can add it to a vocab list.
Review a complete interactive transcript under the Dialogue tab, and find words and phrases listed under Vocab.
Learn all the vocabulary in any video with FluentU’s robust learning engine. Swipe left or right to see more examples of the word you’re on.
The best part is that FluentU keeps track of the vocabulary that you’re learning, and gives you extra practice with difficult words. It'll even remind you when it’s time to review what you’ve learned. Every learner has a truly personalized experience, even if they’re learning with the same video.
Start using the FluentU website on your computer or tablet or, better yet, download the FluentU app from the iTunes or Google Play store. Sign up by November 28th to receive a 60% discount with our Black Friday sale!
